BEFORE THE COMPARISON , WHAT IS A COVID-19 VACCINE ?
Simply put , a COVID-19 vaccine is a vaccine which provides us immunity from the disease COVID-19 (SARS CoV-2 or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2).
HOW MANY COVID-19 VACCINES ARE THERE IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW ?
Well , there are many COVID-19 vaccines , but only 15 vaccines have been authorized by at least one National regulatory authority and fit for human use. These are :-
- Pfizer-BioNTech [ RNA vaccine (Ribonucleic acid) ]
- Moderna [ Another RNA vaccine ]
- BBIBP-CorV or Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine [ A conventional inactivated vaccine ]
- CoronaVac or Sinovac [ A conventional inactivated vaccine ]
- Covaxin [ A conventional inactivated vaccine ]
- WIBP-CorV [ A conventional inactivated vaccine ]
- CoviVac [ A conventional inactivated vaccine ]
- QazVac or QazCovid-in [ Another conventional inactivated vaccine ]
- Sputnik Light [ A viral vector vaccine ]
- Sputnik V [ A viral vector vaccine ]
- Oxford-AstraZeneca or Covishield [ A viral vector vaccine ]
- Convidecia [ Another viral vector vaccine ]
- Johnson & Johnson [ The final viral vector vaccine ]
- EpiVacCorona [ A protein subunit vaccine containing specific isolated proteins of the viral or bacterial pathogen and presents it to the immune system so that the immune system can fight off the virus ]
- RBD-Dimer [ Another protein subunit vaccine ]
BUT , HOW DO THESE VACCINES KILL THE VIRUS ?
This is how they do that :-
- Pfizer-BioNTech
It contains a mRNA (Messenger RNA) which tells your cells how to make a protein , namely the spike protein which is inside the coronavirus , due to which it hooks into your cells and infects you . But after injecting the vaccine , the spike protein won’t give you the COVID-19 virus , but , the immune system will think that it’s the real coronavirus , attack it , and remember what it looks like . So next time when the REAL coronavirus tries to enter your body , the immune system would fight it off and you won’t get the deadly virus. It consists of 2 doses each to be taken at least 21 days apart and need not to be repeated. Once you take the vaccine , strong immunization lasts for at least 6 months in vaccinated people.
2. Moderna
Same as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine , it contains a mRNA which tells your cells how to make a protein , namely the spike protein which is inside the coronavirus , due to which it hooks into your cells and infects you . But after injecting the vaccine , the spike protein won’t give you the COVID-19 virus , but , the immune system will think that it’s the real coronavirus , attack it , and remember what it looks like . So next time when the REAL coronavirus tries to enter your body , the immune system would fight it off and you won’t get the deadly virus. It consists of 2 doses, each to be taken 28 days apart. Once you take the vaccine , strong immunization lasts for at least 6 months in vaccinated people.
3. Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine
The BBIBP-CorV Covid-19 vaccine works by teaching your immune system to make antibodies against the Sars-CoV-2 virus. It further stops the virus from replicating inside your body , hence , the virus gets deactivated. It consists of 2 doses , each to be taken 21 days apart. Once you take the vaccine , strong immunization lasts for some months.
4. CoronaVac or Sinovac
It is a vaccine containing aluminium hydroxide . It boosts the immune system of our body which further makes it capable to fight against the deadly COVID-19 . It consists of 2 doses each to be taken 21 days apart. Once you take the vaccine , strong immunization lasts for 8 months.
5. Covaxin
It is manufactured by Bharat Biotech and has a total of 2 doses each to be taken 4 weeks apart. It is made from the Sars-CoV-2 strand of the coronavirus. They culture and grow the virus , then they kill the virus and make a vaccine out of it. Once you take the vaccine , strong immunization lasts for 6 to 12 months.
6. WIBP-CorV
WIBP-CorV is one of two inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinopharm. It consists of only 1 dose which has to be taken.
7. CoviVac
Made in Russia , it is a vaccine made of a coronavirus which has been inactivated , or not been able to reproduce . It consists of 2 shots each to be taken 14 days apart. It is a whole virion vaccine , meaning that it was made of an artificially weakened coronavirus . Which helps the immune system to learn how to fight the coronavirus and then kill it.
8. QazVac
It is a vaccine developed by the Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems in Kazakhstan . It consists of 2 shots with a 3-week interval in both the shots . It also can be stored at fridge-temperature i.e. 2°C to 8°C , which means that you can store the vaccine in a fridge . It is also known as QazCovid-in .
9. Sputnik Light
Sputnik Light is another vaccine made in Russia . But , it performs the function of the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine. It requires only 1 dose . It uses recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26) viral vector to carry the code for spike antigen of the SARS-Cov-2 virus.
10. Sputnik V
Another COVID-19 vaccine made in Russia , Sputnik V uses a cold-type virus , which is engineered to be harmless , as a carrier of a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body , safely exposing the body to the coronavirus . Our immune system then learns how to fight the actual coronavirus and in case we get infected , it will have no effect on us and will die since the immune system knows how to fight it. We will have to take 2 doses 3 weeks apart of this vaccine.
11. Covishield
The Oxford-AstraZeneca or the popularly known Covishield is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (also known as adenovirus) from chimpanzees. This vaccine consists of 2 doses each to be taken 12-16 weeks apart. Once injected , it basically “teaches” our immune system how to fight against the real COVID-19 , which prevents the spread of the disease. In a step by step way :
- Scientists , in order to create the vaccine , take genes of the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus and further input these genes into another harmless virus. Further to create a vaccine.
- This is then injected in the patients’ body.
- Furthermore , the vaccine enters our cells which then start to produce the spike protein.
- Due to it’s duty of protecting the body from any kind of disease , the body’s immune system reacts , produces antibodies and further activates T-cells to destroy the cells with the spike protein.
- Then even if the patient later catches the coronavirus , he/she will not be infected since the antibodies and the T-Cells are triggered to fight and destroy the virus.
12. Convidecia
AD5-nCOV , popularily known as Convidecia is a single dose viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 and was developed by CanSino Biologics. It provides protection against the severe COVID-19 disease. It uses a weakened common cold virus incapable of causing a severe disease to deliver the genetic material that codes for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the cells . The cells then produce the spike protein and travel to the lymph nodes , where the immune system creates antibodies that will recognize that spike protein and fight off the coronavirus.
13. Johnson & Johnson/Jansen
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses mRNA or messenger RNA (Ribonucleic acid) to deliver bits of genetic material to the cells. This code then serves as an instruction sheet – further telling cells how to make a harmless piece of spike protein that sticks out of the surface of the coronavirus. The immune system then learns how to recognize the spike protein and fight it. Only 1 dose of this vaccine is required.
14. EpiVacCorona
Another vaccine made in Russia , EpiVacCorona relies on chemically synthesized peptide antigens of SARS-CoV-2 proteins bonded together to a carrier protein and holded as a thin film on the outside surface of an aluminium-containing adjuvant , namely aluminium hydroxide. It forms immunity due to the artificially synthesized peptides. It consists of 2 doses , each to be taken 21 days apart.
15. RBD-Dimer
This vaccine is a receptor-binding domain-based protein subunit vaccine , which further uses a harmless fragment of the SARS-Cov-2 virus instead of the complete germ. It consists of 3 doses , each to be received 30 days apart.
COVID 19 VACCINES AND THEIR EFFICACY RATE
| S.no | COVID-19 VACCINE | Efficacy Rate (According to google) |
| 1. | Pfizer | 95.3% |
| 2. | Moderna | 94.1% |
| 3. | Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine or BBIBP-CorV | 79.34% |
| 4. | CoronaVac or Sinovac | 65% |
| 5. | Covaxin | 81% |
| 6. | WIBP-CorV | 72.51% |
| 7. | CoviVac | 91.4% |
| 8. | QazVac or QazCovid-in | 95% |
| 9. | Sputnik Light | 79.4% |
| 10. | Sputnik V | 97.6% |
| 11. | Covishield or Astra-Zeneca | 76% |
| 12. | Convidecia | 90.98% |
| 13. | Johnson & Johnson | 66.9% |
| 14. | EpiVacCorona | 100% effective according to the trials in Russia |
| 15. | RBD-Dimer | 97% |
